


Pieces

by sffan



Series: Fractures [3]
Category: Firefly
Genre: Break Up, M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-04-29 12:04:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14472378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sffan/pseuds/sffan
Summary: Jayne sorts through the pieces.





	Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> skrip made me do it. She said there had to be a sequel, so I made her help me with it. Thanks to llaras for finding the poem (by Courtesan Tzu Yeh (c. 350 - 500) T'ang Dynasty). And yes, it’s still depressing.
> 
> I knew Open Doors was going to be uploading my fic. I had no idea they actually had....
> 
> Original publication date: November 8, 2003
> 
> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Firefly’s Glow](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Firefly%27s_Glow), and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project in 2018. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Firefly's Glow collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/fireflysglow/profile).
> 
> My disclaimer: This fic is from a previous archive, written between 2002 and 2008. No additional changes or edits have been made since it’s original posting date and none will be. A further note, Firefly was my first fandom, there are bound to be rookie mistakes. To preserve my own development as a writer, I am not editing or correcting them. You may find yourself making this face O_o occasionally.

Jayne notices right away - all the things that are now gone from his bunk - the odd medical text or two, the iron he used to put the crease in his pants, the soap he liked to use - gone, all gone. All traces of Simon's presence in his room removed stealthily between one day and the next. Sighing quietly, he climbs into a too-empty bunk and falls into a restless slumber, twisting and turning in the night as he unconsciously searches for the other body that should be there. 

He wakes early, his arms wrapped tightly around a pillow, and gets up to go work out. When he returns, freshly showered, there is a small bundle on his bed. Jayne sits beside it and sorts through the few things, - a tin of gun oil and a few oil and dirt stained rags, a meticulously folded t-shirt, and a book that he knows isn't his. He pushes the other items aside and picks up the book and examines it closely. 

Frowning slightly, Jayne reads the title softly to himself, "The Art of War by Sun Tzu." Jayne blinks in stunned shock. He can hardly believe his eyes. He knows how rare this book is, Simon had told him so when they had first started using it to improve his reading skills. It is nearly irreplaceable, and Simon has given it to him. He touches the cover almost reverently and remembers long, quiet afternoons spent laboriously sounding out words and heated discussions over the often confusing concepts. Jayne allows a slight smile and then he opens the cover and sees the inscription: 

_When I started wanting_  
_to know that man_ ,  
_I hoped our coupled hearts_  
_would be like one_. 

_Silk thoughts threaded_  
_on a broken loom-_  
_who'd have known_  
_the tangled snarls to come_? 

_So soon. Today, love, we_  
_part. And our re-_  
_union - when_  
_will that time come_? 

_A bright lamp_  
_shines on an empty place_ ,  
_in sorrow and longing_ :  
_not yet, not yet, not_  
_yet_. 

_S_. 

The smile fades from Jayne's face as he reads the poem, a growing ache clenching his gut, and he slowly closes the book. He gets up and takes the few steps over to his dresser, opens the drawer and slips it under a pile of t-shirts. 

Jayne picks up his guns and, without a backward glance, leaves his bunk. 


End file.
